Pam Hersh

Although media reports have triggered panic over the Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia), there are no reports this pest is present anywhere else in North America besides the Pacific Northwest. Rutgers Cooperative Extension (RCE) personnel in the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources have received inquiries to identify hornets found by the public. In New Jersey, RCE county offices have not identified any submitted specimens to be the Asian Giant Hornet, which has only had confirmed sightings in Washington State and British Columbia, Canada. “The species has not yet been detected this spring and we do not expect them on the East Coast,” said Dina M. Fonseca, director of the Center for Vector Biology and professor in the Department Entomology in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at Rutgers–New Brunswick. “We do not know how the species arrived in the United States but it is important to not overreact.”

Washington State University’s information on the Asian giant hornet confirmed the first U.S. sighting of this hornet in the wild. READ MORE

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Rutgers University will stream a virtual celebration of its 2020 graduates on May 31 to honor their academic achievements completed during a pandemic that required remote instruction through the final weeks of the spring semester. President Robert Barchi will preside over and confer degrees during Rutgers University’s 254th Anniversary Commencement celebration, which will feature award-winning NBC News anchor Lester Holt delivering an address to the graduates from his home studio. Holt also will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. “Commencement is an important milestone, not only for our students and their families, but for our faculty and staff, our alumni, and for the Rutgers community as a whole,” President Barchi said. “In this time of uncertainty, celebrating graduation is more important than ever, because it brings us together to recognize achievements with a sense of pride and admiration, even amidst social distancing.”

The virtual ceremony, which will begin at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 31, will be streamed on the university’s commencement website, Facebook and YouTube channels and will incorporate many of the traditional customs associated with on-campus commencements, along with some new ones for an unprecedented time. READ MORE

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The Highland Park Chinese Association (HPCA), a
nonsectarian, nonprofit organization founded recently in response to the
pandemic’s health, social and economic ramifications, has employed
determination and creativity to play a valuable role in supporting the town’s
response to the COVID-19 crisis. Communicating primarily through Zoom and
online forums, the HPCA has rallied its members to do the following. Obtained & donated 1,500 single use surgical
masks, 1,300 nitrile gloves, and 200 medical gowns with hoods to the borough,Obtained and donated 200 KN95 face masks and 390
surgical masks to the Highland Park Police Department,Collected funds from its members and donated
$2000 to the Highland Park Community Food Pantry,Conducted an active online drive to encourage local
Chinese residents to participate in the 2020 Census, resulting in 85 families
and 288 people being included in the Census. “I’m so humbled and very grateful for the many contributions
of the Highland Park Chinese Association at this time,” said Mayor Gayle Brill
Mittler. “It is exceptionally helpful to have the Highland Park Chinese Association
working with us to secure enough PPE (personal protective equipment) for all
our needs. READ MORE

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 Governor Murphy on April 28, 2020,  signed Executive Order No. 130, that allows municipalities to extend the grace period for property tax payments due on May 1st to June 1st. Such an extension would provide much-needed relief to homeowners struggling financially as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. But Highland Park last week already announced its intention to do something very similar that would not have required the state’s permission. “Allowing municipalities the option of extending the grace period for May property tax payments is the right thing to do as many New Jerseyans are impacted financially as a result of this crisis,” said Governor Murphy. READ MORE

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Salvador Mena struggled with an undiagnosed learning disability during his childhood in the South Bronx. For most of his school years he was far from a model student. The challenges he faced growing up on welfare in an economically disadvantaged neighborhood, living with family who took him in after he emigrated from Puerto Rico before kindergarten, instilled in him a deep drive and an understanding of what it takes to overcome adversity to succeed. 

This experience is what guides Dr. Mena in his role as the vice chancellor for student affairs at Rutgers University-New Brunswick – particularly now as he helps a team of university administrators navigate Rutgers and its students through the changes universities and colleges have been forced to make as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic.  

Whether replacing in-person programs and events with virtual ones, providing laptops for students who need them, offering food at campus food pantries, providing online mental health services and giving those who don’t have homes to go to or are international students unable to travel a place to live, Dr. Mena, his student affairs team and campus colleagues are helping students through an unprecedented time. “I am putting things into perspective and being grateful for even little blessings,” said Dr. Mena, who is working with administrators throughout Rutgers to provide services for students coping with a variety of issues from the anxiety, stress and uncertainty of when their lives will be back to normal, to the everyday tasks of completing coursework online instead of in the classroom and the stark reality for graduating seniors that traditional 2020 commencement festivities won’t take place. 

“We are in a strange spot that we have never been in before and we are working to make sure that our students understand that we are there for them,” he said. READ MORE

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The HP Farmers Market — social-distancing-in-the-time-of-COVID edition — will start on Friday May 1. In partnership with the Borough of Highland Park and the Highland Park police department, Main Street Highland Park has come up with this temporary plan to allow for ONLY pre-ordered and pre-paid pick-ups. This is healthy for the town, healthy for the residents, so make this special Farmers Market a special community event. Basic info:

—–Pickup on Friday, 11 am – 2 pm —-NO day-of purchases —-NO walk-up purchases—-Online pre-ordering & pre-paying ONLY. (If you can’t pay online, email mainstreethighlandpark@gmail.com) —-Drive-up pickup ONLY (If you can’t do drive-thru pickup, email mainstreethighlandpark@gmail.com) —-Must order individually from each vendor at mainstreethp.org/farmersmarket. READ MORE

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Rutgers University is taking sweeping
cost-cutting measures to help the university address the immediate fiscal
challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic and called for a budget for the
coming fiscal year with no increase in tuition and fees, according to Rutgers University
President Robert Barchi.  He and the
university’s most senior leadership will take a 10 percent reduction in salary
and that other senior leaders will reduce their pay by 5 percent. The president
called for utilizing all appropriate reserve funds, as well as a freeze on all
new major construction projects, among other steps. President Barchi announced the cost-cutting
measures in a letter at the end of April to the members of the university’s
governing boards, faculty and administration. The changes follow other steps
the state’s flagship university has already taken, including a university-wide
hiring freeze, a ban on non-negotiated and out-of-cycle pay increases, and a
ban on all discretionary travel and other expenses. READ MORE

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You can support Highland Park’s restaurants by ordering delivery or pick-up for at least one meal or perhaps many meals this week. For added nourishment, share photos on social media and tag the restaurant you ordered from. Also tag Main Street Highland Park (@mainstreethp) so MSHP can share it! Here is a list of HP food & drink establishments that are offering online or phone orders for curbside pickup or delivery. PLEASE CALL the business you’re interested in for hours and details on their operations, as many businesses are changing them daily. READ MORE

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Main Street Highland Park (MSHP) with the Borough of Highland Park and Middlesex County are working hard to bring the Highland Park Farmers Market’s fresh produce and food to Highland Park starting on Friday May 1, but with COVID-19-related health and safety modifications. According to MSHP Executive Director Rebecca Hersh, “We will delay opening of the traditional walk-up market for a bit, but the good news is that we are working to open a ‘pre-order, pre-pay, and pick-up only’ market starting on May 1. We are hammering out the details now – please follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and get on our mailing list to keep up with all the latest updates. Stay tuned for more info soon.” READ MORE

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Obituary as published in The New York Times, April 11, 2020

Ruth B. Mandel was an infant when she and her parents fled Germany on the eve of World War II. They were among the 937 passengers, almost all of them Jewish refugees, aboard the ocean liner St. Louis on what was often called the Voyage of the Damned. The Nazis had allowed the ship to sail with the expectation that the Jews would never be allowed to disembark — thus, the Nazis claimed, proving Hitler’s point that Jews were unwanted and justifying his persecution of them. Indeed, Cuba spurned them. READ MORE

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